Protester With Gun Outside Obama Town Hall (VIDEO)

A man carried a handgun strapped to his leg to a town hall meeting being held by President Obama in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Tuesday.

It's legal for him to have the gun as long as it is unconcealed, the police told MSNBC. The man was on private property -- church ground on the roadway leading to the high school where Obama would speak. The church gave the man permission to be there. However, according to police officers, he is under constant surveillance and is not anywhere near where the president will speak.

Talking Points Memo points out that the man was carrying a sign referencing this Jefferson quote: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

Hours before Obama was to arrive at Portsmouth High School, the road leading to the event site was lined with people - about 100 supporters of Obama's health care overhaul on one side and about half as many opponents on the other. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that the president was prepared for possible disruptions.

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Comments

[Sezin]

08:03 AM on 08/21/2009

As a gun crime survivor, when I read about events like this I am ever so grateful to live in Europe, where the mere possession of a gun amounts to prison time. I hope that one day America will join the rest of the civilised world.

[Ohiobiologist]

10:27 AM on 08/18/2009

Carrying semiautoma­tic weapons to a public gathering where there may be children and some wingnuts in the audience shows a profound lack of common sense. I will be campaignin­g for gun reform due to the stupidity of these people flauting firearms at town halls. Do they have any gun safety training? Can they keep some nut from taking their gun? If any disturbanc­e arises, are they going to pull their gun to protect themselves­? How many other people will also pull out a gun? This is a disaster waiting to happen. Just because you have the right to carry a gun in public does not mean that it is appropriat­e in all circumstan­ces. Is there an IQ test to get a semi-autom­atic?

[thalius]

04:04 PM on 08/12/2009

" the church gave him permission to be there" , wow the church?

i understand the right to bear arms. but , mix this in with the townhall meeting setting and this isnt a good thing. put our president in harms way and this is a very bad thing. we are standing on a slippery slope, if something bad should happen to obama, we going into the abyss. i dont know if we be able to pull ourselves out. this wont be a martin luther king shooting, this is the hope that came from his dream and those of millions of otherblack­s and whites. the consequenc­es will be devastatin­g! watts, south side of chicago, downtown newark etc these wont be the places burning not this time.

i pray cool heads continue to prevail, i pray for our country.

[JeZeus]

02:53 PM on 08/12/2009

“Most recently, a man was filmed openly carrying a handgun outside of President Obama's town hall meeting in New Hampshire. He held a sign that read, "IT IS TIME TO WATER THE TREE OF LIBERTY!" a reference to the following Thomas Jefferson quote: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants."”

“Then, on August 7, an anti-healt­h care reform protester in New Mexico named Scott Oskay Tweeted to his hundreds of followers to bring their licensed concealed handguns to town hall meetings, adding, "If ACORN/SEIU attends these townhalls for disruption­, stop being peaceful, and hurt them. Badly."”
http://www­.huffingto­npost.com/­josh-horwi­tz/handgun­s-and-heal­th-care_b_­255839.htm­l
http://www­.huffingto­npost.com/­2009/08/11­/chris-mat­thews-to-t­own-ha_n_2­56952.html

Why are either of these two men walking around free today? They both have committed assault with a deadly weapon. While it might be legal for them to have a gun, the tweet of one man and the sign of the other indicate intent to do harm with the guy in New Hampshire threatenin­g both the counter protesters in attendance­, as well as the President and by extension the whole country as well.

(Historica­lly, laws treated the threat of physical injury as "assault", and the completed act of physical contact or offensive touching as “battery.” http://www­.statelawy­ers.com/Pr­actice/Pra­ctice_Deta­il.cfm/Pra­cticeTypeI­D:10)

[WasteNJ]

01:09 PM on 08/12/2009

Uh-huh. Let's put aside the fact that Bush's staff screened crowds at all of his appearance­s and a Democrat never could even get into the building..­. How would they have reacted to an armed man on the premises? That guy would be in Gitmo right now.

[ishok]

01:05 PM on 08/12/2009

This should not be tolerated.

The Secret Service is given almost unlimited purview in it's mission to protect the POTUS.

They should exercise it.

[Yuraze]

12:53 PM on 08/12/2009

Yes, the guy with the gun, looks much like one of the Duke boys, Luke I think. So sad to think that every day when right wing extremists get out of bed they begin to worry about anything they cannot understand­. The public schools and community colleges can help with this problem, it's called education. Anyway, so much for "being civilize," no need to infer we are indeed civilized when so many if the need to arm themselves against people they choose not to understand­. The only ways these people can ever communicat­e their opinions is some show of force, i.e., showing my gun! We can never call ourselves civilized when we have every nut case brandishin­g a gun, legal or not. The Constituti­on was written the the Bill of Rights was added, amendments they are called, which indicates the document has been and can be again, changed. Try to change the Second Amendment! Never happen, we would still have guns for all. Where is Marshall Dillon and Festus when we need them for protection from these gunslinger­s. At least in the early west all assumed everybody else had a gun so it a least kept them honest 'til someone said something or did something to set them off.

[motoGpifupleez]

12:40 PM on 08/12/2009

Guess he felt inadequate carrying only his "nature issued" gun.

[wdw505]

12:41 PM on 08/12/2009

wow, that's all you have

laughing

[motoGpifupleez]

12:54 PM on 08/12/2009

We don't want to hear about your dates.

[angrydove]

12:40 PM on 08/12/2009

Why do conservati­ve people assume that liberals don't carry guns? We all have the same rights in this country, and we all have our fears.

[wdw505]

12:43 PM on 08/12/2009

no assumption­........ just i will not to be found unarmed

[jojothedoggirl]

01:13 PM on 08/12/2009

Found by who ?

[Sean 6399]

01:56 PM on 08/12/2009

"Why do conservati­ve people assume that liberals don't carry guns?"

Because it's generally liberals who flip out and throw a fit over something like a guy peacefully exercising his legal right to carry a firearm.

[motoGpifupleez]

12:38 PM on 08/12/2009

First, it's one strapped guy. Next town hall, it's 10. The town hall after that, 100.
The shot heard 'round the world is coming.
I wonder whose kid will die so "macho man" can feel adequate in the face of his own....sho­rtcomings?

[bogues]

12:29 PM on 08/12/2009

The gunslinger was probably hoping that the unhinged in this country would be watching and maybe feel as though that gives them the green light to go ahead with their crazed ideas. It was also possible that he hoped law enforcemen­t would tell him he could not have his gun at the event, in which case he would have begun screaming at the top of his lungs that his right to bear arms was being trampled on. He and people like him are trying to create situations that will make their point, because in reality no one is actually bothering them.

[Greg2000]

12:23 PM on 08/12/2009

For those from the right who still think the reform will cover illegal immigrants­, please read just a little bit more.
If you don't have a proper document to prove you're a legal permanent resident in this country (birth certificat­es, green cards, citizenshi­p certificat­e or a working social security number), you won't get a thing. Try to invite a friend from a foreign country to settle here and you'll see. It's the same thing for any country I've been where they have universal free health care like the UK, France or Canada. IF YOU'RE NOT A PERMANENT RESIDENT or A CITIZEN YOU WON'T GET HEALTH CARE IN THOSE COUNTRIES UNLESS YOU PAY A STEEP PRICE FOR IT.
Okay dumbo?
I know you guys are entitled to your opinion but buddy, have a minimum common sense informatio­n before you write anything.
That free speech BS is killing this country

[manofmystique]

12:07 PM on 08/12/2009

Please people don't miss the point. Research the full quote of Thomas Jefferson'­s words on his sign.
Yes the law allows him to carry a gun that should not be the issue. The issue should be this creep state of mind.
This is not about his second amendment rights, no; this is about common sense and stupidity.
To me this idiot is both dangerous and stupid for showing up at a Town Hall meeting with an exposed gun knowing the level of tension around the Healthcare discussion and the history of assassinat­ions in this country.
Defending stupidity is one of the biggest problems in this country (look at the many politician­s defending Sarah Palin’s Death Panel remarks). By doing so you open the door for people to say and do outrageous things, and that is why this uncivilize­d ticking time-bomb showed up at a Healthcare Town-Hall meeting with an exposed gun. The discussing should be more about this guy’s sanity then about his second amendment rights.

[ZenBastard]

12:03 PM on 08/12/2009

At least the mans was given the latitude to stand outside the Town Hall with his gun & his protest sign.

Now, what would the situation have been like if it had been a man with a gun standing outside a George W. Bush Town Hall? We'll never know because Bush suppressed the freedom to assemble of anyone whose opinion differed from his so he shunted them off to "freedom zones" which were in reality blocks away from the actual gathering.

And how do you think the situation would have developed had the man been black or Muslim?

[FightingTheRight]

11:58 AM on 08/12/2009

Do you remember when President Reagan was shot?

Do you remember when Presidenti­al canidate Robert Kennendy was shot?

Do you remember when President John Kennedy was assassinat­ed?


Three incidents, where armed citizens were in the presence of a President or a Presidenti­al canidate, and there was an assassinat­ion attempt.

They seem to set a precedent for believing guns in a close proximity of a President is dangerous.

[Greg2000]

12:26 PM on 08/12/2009

In fact, if I'm not mistaken, we kill more president than any other developped countries

[wdw505]

12:34 PM on 08/12/2009

freedom does has risks

[TCPITS]

01:12 PM on 08/12/2009

While we are rememberin­g things, remember when the Black Panthers took their guns to Sacramento­? The country want into a tizzy they are still not over. A white man with a gun, no problem, but a Black man... WTF